Jerry Jones sized up the state of the Cowboys on Tuesday, speaking publicly for the first time since the loss Saturday night to the Los Angeles Rams ended Dallas' season short of the NFC Championship Game for the 23rd straight year.

No, the team owner didn't offer decisive verdicts on a contract extension for head coach Jason Garrett or the return of offensive coordinator Scott Linehan. He didn't keep his responses "concise," as he'd promised the guys on "The Fan" KRLD-FM (105.3), either.

But as the well-initiated would expect when viewing the club's standing from Jones' mind's eye, he offered assessments both head-scratching and telling, and never "trite," to use one of his catchphrases. He volunteered at two different junctures of the interview that he was most certainly not "irritated" or "frustrated." Truth is, the 76-year-old who quips that he "doesn't have time for a bad time" came off frustrated, optimistic and dug in all at the same time.

Asked about the 30-22 loss in LA in the divisional round of the playoffs, Jones mentioned the slippery field conditions at Memorial Coliseum before the, uh, 273 yards rushing the Rams gashed the Dallas defense for. They seemingly had no trouble at all with the turf.

"If I had it to do over again, we would be really scrutinizing our footwear, our cleats," Jones said.

Garrett has never had such trouble finding footing with Jones in his eight full seasons as head coach, despite only two playoff wins during his tenure, including defeating Seattle in the wild-card round this season.

And while Jones wouldn't discuss if Garrett will be extended -- he has one year remaining, which is when these deals are typically made -- the writing is on the wall.

"If Jason Garrett had been out on the market two weeks ago, he would have had five offers for head coaching," Jones said. "I know that. And so, you've got to look at what your alternative is. We've got a very young team. ... We've got players we've got going in a direction. You make changes and you're going to change direction. ...

"Making a change each year is tough. I've done that. I've been there, and I know the price you pay."

Jones waxed on about how, in the regular business world, you can be a billionaire -- or even buy, say, a yacht reported at $250 million -- and still come in 200th in rankings. In football, if teams don't advance in the playoffs, it's not enough.

"I'm not a bit irritated," he said, cutting himself off. "I like the direction that we're going in."

Jones again wouldn't close the door, but he offered a positive assessment of the staff, which Linehan was given latitude to overhaul on the offensive side last offseason.

Jones noted the improvement as the season went on, though the Cowboys finished the regular season averaging just 21.2 points per game and seemingly unable to consistently get the most out of the assembled talent.

Jones mentioned an emphasis on the run-pass option, a strength of quarterback Dak Prescott's going back to his college days. But he didn't drill in on what fans have begged for, a willingness to consistently use Prescott's ability to run.

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"Why would I put some kind of statement out that says this is what we're going to do when we might have an opportunity here next week?" Jones said of staffing changes. "This is the time when these things are thought about. This is the time when they are chewed on. This is when you may see an opportunity next week you didn't know existed this week in the area of personnel or in the area of coaching. And I'm not trying to be cute here. I'm just saying that one of the advantages that we have is that we can operate with that kind of flexibility."

Jones said that he's operating in a vacuum where his whole focus is figuring out how to finally get the Cowboys back to the NFC title game and beyond. Yet ...

"The great Tom Landry had criticism for years and years ... because he couldn't get past a certain round," Jones said. "And he ended up winning two Super Bowls here and is considered one of the greatest coaches."

Part of making another push will be extending the deals of key players. Jones emphasized that he wants Prescott, defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, cornerback Byron Jones and running back Ezekiel Elliott to get signed when the time comes. Any other thought about Zeke, he said, "would be madness."

But getting it all done is a little more complicated. "I may sound a little frustrated -- I'm not at all," he said. And Jones put it like so:

"Now, getting there, hell, I want a bigger boat," he said. "The bottom line is there's a whole bunch of stuff that you want."